The digital world of cookies

What are cookies?

1. These are bits of code, stored on a device when one visits websites online.
2. Cookies help in personalisation and user convenience and therefore, play a pivotal role in shaping any online experience.

How do cookies work?

1. Cookies remember a user’s login information on websites, which prevents the need to repeatedly enter the credentials every time revisiting the site, making it convenient for use.
2. The cookies are used to provide recommendations and content based on personalised user experience.

• For instance, Amazon’s cookies shall remember products browsed to purchases made by the user.
• This knowledge helps it to give product recommendations and content, making the online shopping feel like a personalised boutique experience.

3. Cookies are also employed to track online behaviour for extracting commercial benefits.

• Platforms like Facebook and Google track online behaviour using cookies to align the ads encountered by the user with his/her preferences.

What are the types of cookies?

1. Session cookies
   1. They are temporary cookies like post-it notes for websites.
   2. It is stored in the user’s computer’s memory only during your browsing session and vanishes on closing them.
   3. It helps the websites remember actions as the user navigate, like items in the shopping cart.
2. Persistent cookies
   1. They are the digital equivalent of bookmarks.
   2. Stays on the device even after the browsing session ends
   3. They remember login information, language preferences, and even the ads interacted with to provide a more personalised web experience.
3. Secure cookies
   1. It is only sent over encrypted connections, making them safer.
   2. They are often used for sensitive data like login credentials.

What are the uses of cookies?

1. They act as digital ID cards, aiding in user authentication by allowing websites to recognise and keep the user logged in during their visit.
2. They foster a sense of personalisation, recalling users’ preferences such as language choice or website theme.
3. They act as digital equivalent of a persistent shopping cart, ensuring that items added online remain there when the user return.
4. It facilitates website owners to gather data about user interactions, enabling them to make enhancements and customise content.
5. They play a pivotal role in targeted advertising, as advertisers use them to display ads that align with the users’ interests and browsing history, making online shopping more enticing. 

Challenges associated with cookies:

1. It pitches privacy concerns as it tracks the user’s online behaviour, which can sometimes encroach upon the user’s digital privacy.
2. When cookies are nor secure, it can raise security concerns as cybercriminals can pilfer user’s personal information. 
3. Third-party cookies (cookies from a domain other than the one visited by the user) have sparked debates, prompting many web browsers to curb their usage to safeguard user privacy.
4. The data deluge generated by the multitude of cookies can potentially clog the user’s browser, leading to a sluggish web experience.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 recently enacted necessitates websites to acquire explicit consent from users prior to collecting or processing their personal data via cookies.  This has rendered obsolete the concept of implied consent as satisfactory, highlighting the significance of transparent and well-informed consent.